Pro-Shot Video of The Crüecifly' Solo
Saturday, August 30, 2014 at 12:01AM So. You already know Motley Crue is out on the road, doing their final tour. Part of that tour includes a massive contraption called The Crüecifly. Basically, it's a sky-high roller coaster that Tommy Lee uses for his drum solo. It's so big and so dangerous, many of the outdoor venues can't handle it and I've read it's an absolute spectacle to watch as the crew assembles it before each show. Anyway, Tommy just released a pro-shot video clip of the drum solo and it's pretty cool.
Some observations: I think it's very interesting the clip opens with "Hooligan's Holiday" from my beloved Motley Crue (or MC94) album and I think having the actual audio would have been better, but whatever. All I know is, it was an interesting choice to use a Motley track voiced by John Corabi in this promo clip. Check it out (but don't if you get dizzy or motion sick).
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That said, TL yet again showed his softer side in his comments after the Allentown show. Nothing but classy, that guy.
Happy holiday weekend everyone.
Happy Labor Day weekend my fellow warriors!
Speaking of Motley & ex-wives... Nikki's ex, Brandi Brandt is going away to jail in Australia for a while...
"Playboy covergirl Brandi Brandt has been sentenced to at least three and a half years in prison in NSW for her role in a cocaine importation conspiracy.
Brandt, best known for her failed marriage to Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, was involved in a brazen US-Australia cocaine importation syndicate that hid packages of the drugs in toilets on passenger planes bound for Sydney in 2007.
She pleaded guilty to conspiring to import more than two kilograms of the drug and transferring more than 70 thousand dollars into bank accounts over the sale.
In sentencing Brandt on Friday, Judge Peter Zahra said her role in the criminal enterprise was "substantially lower" than her co-accused, including her former lover and stuntman Rusty Setser.
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He could not be satisfied, he said, that she ever touched the drug packages or was aware of the quantities involved.
Sydney's District Court heard that the 45-year-old's childhood had been beset with drug use.
Her mother, Maria 'Brie' Darling, was a musician and as a child Brandt was surrounded by drug use.
By the time she was 12 or 13, Brandt herself had begun to abuse drink and drugs, and went off to live with her father.
While she was sober during her marriage to Sixx, the court heard the relationship's breakdown saw her return to drugs and alcohol.
Her subsequent relationship with Setser was marred by violence and heavy drug use, with Brandt telling a psychologist he was a "ticking time bomb" and that he encouraged her to "use more".
The long-haired brunette was involved in the conspiracy to import cocaine for a brief period in November 2007.
By 2009, Brandt was aware that authorities were interested in her and the fear of arrest was a "significant emotional burden", Judge Zahra said.
She was finally extradited from the US to Sydney in 2013.
Judge Zahra said she had good prospects of rehabilitation and was unlikely to re-offend.
He sentenced her to a maximum of six years.
She will be eligible for parole in November 2016."
Very funny title for the solo, too, I might add, HIM. And, generally speaking, after Rehab finally st*ck for Lee, he's been nearly an absolute prince! I've mentioned this moment before here but it might be worth repeating cuz it is testimony to Lee's character of late...
Immediately following Crue opening for Aerosmith at Jones Beach in 2007, Tommy immediately came to the edge of the stage, then crouched down to beckon me and, I'm sure more tantamount in his mind, the two blonde sisters I was with.
We went over, and the guy was an absolute sweetheart. He wanted to know if we liked the show and wanted to know how it sounded. He offered us a swig of his bottle of Jager he was holding.
I was the only taker as the girls politely declined, I'm guessing, because they were subconsciously speculating where Lee's mouth had been prior to sipping said Jager.
That does seem like a far cry to where we are now. Despite his generally more affable demeanor of late, I do find it somewhat uncool that he wouldn't participate in all the Meet & Greets, etc.
Why? Because it's a spoiler for the fans. Those who are willing to pay the piper, fork out an extra grand or so, to get a picture and share antidotes with the band.
The fact that tommy refuses to join in is disheartening. Yes, I understand that he doesn't want to be a part of making all those diehard fans part with their money.
What Lee apparently fails to realize is that he could just donate his proceeds from the Meet & Greets, thereby allowing the fans to have the full experience of meeting the band.
p.s. Thanks for sharing the story, Ace!
Thing is, TL has acted increasingly tone deaf when it comes to fans and where they have placed him (this relates back to the original post where Metalboy! shared the above story . . . a great story, by the way).
And TL's attitude goes a bit beyond VN being a bit of dink when it comes to singing or sobriety, or NS being a holier than thou commentator on all things related to life on Earth (I leave MM out of all this because, well, he stays out of it and seems to exude nothing but class in spite of his adversity).
The Allentown situation (which I am glad Bob raised again in a newer post) contrasts quite nicely with MC's first show fiasco at the start of the tour. Stuff happened. Things didn't work out. The band, to the one, looked confused and embarrassed and a bit out of sorts. They reacted in a way that makes sense. They let the fans down but weren't fully in charge of why it happened.
TL's reaction in Allentown wasn't to his rig breaking or some other force majeure. It was to how fans reacted to a mediocre performance (granted, others who were at the show said it was great . . . but that doesn't help TL any). Time and again, fans have stated that Alice Cooper slays while MC often just plays (surrounded, granted again, by smoke, and fire, and video, and drum cages, and woman who now operate as some sort of independent vocal cords for VN while also performing gymnastic moves). It's akin to a Rob Zombie show . . . without the fun or the passion. This being the point I brought up weeks ago regarding spectacle: it is meant to stand in for something that is missing or misdirect one away from that which is lacking.
So what, pray tell, is my point? TL's attitude as of late seems related to something many of us have experienced. MC is, for him, a job. It is drudgery. It is a paycheck. And all facets of that job--meeting fans, rising to the challenge of putting on a decent solo, taking a damn picture--now irritate him.
From what I have seen, NS and VN are actually trying to make something out of this last go around. Sure, some of it strikes me as a bit forced. But, as a fan with a bit of a jaundiced eye, props to them for trying. With TL, surrounded as he is in a swirl of fog for most of the shows, it is easier to hit the beats and cash the check. And when it frustrates him, it is easy to lash out at the crowd. That is, my friends, projection. Ultimately, he is just yelling at himself.
And that thingy he swirls around in? The ultimate form of artifice. Built to spec based on his wishes, but not capable of being seen at every show. Who does that on a continuous tour, thought out far in advance, meant to herald a band at "the top of their game" giving the fans "what they want"? Well, Black Sabbath or Spinal Tap. Who doesn't do that? Alice Copper, a supporting act only in terms of when he goes on.
There is a whole lot one could put into even the name of that infernal sparkle machine. I know, I know. It is just a clever name. But it is funny that a man, who owes so much to his fans (and his fans that are fans solely because of MC), could look down at them with an air of superiority, all while riding (or withholding the site of him in) the Cruecify. Even if unintentional, it seems so perfectly suited to a man who acts like others should feel lucky to see him, or simply acquiesce when what they see isn't what they expected.
I wouldn't wish a bad show on a true fan regardless the band or my opinion thereof. But TL seems hell bent on making "All bad things must end" a self-fulfilling prophesy for MC.
I apologize for the rant.
Tacking with your theory about Tommy Lee's pseudo opaque self-loathing, perhaps the naming of his "Cruecify" contraption is really about his own crucifixion, or more accurately, if he named it "Cruecify" himself, his self-crucifiction!
Obviously, the guy really is koo-koo for cocoa puffs with his Allentown "meltdown". That said, I have a strong feeling that, as the tour rolls into it's final leg, he's going to come around to his senses and start behaving a little more appreciative of his last moments in the spotlight before becoming a faded Hollywood memory.
And so it will come to be, in their final waking moments, their last death throes, their precious remaining hours, the rest of the Crue will not only try to stop from mailing it in, they will deliver!
anyway, when we left the concert, I asked nick, "what did you think? " he replied, "alice cooper was great".
His response sums it up.
Especially the mixed metaphor of your double entendre pun...
Grrrrrrreat (Kellogg's) Post (Post Cereal)!!!
But you knew that!
Cheers with an Ozzy Special (Cheerios with OJ as immortalized in "The Decline of Western Civilization, The Metal Years")
At some point, I hope TL shows (not says): Come get it from me.
Apologies to another band, from the same era, that deals, albeit in different ways, with similar issues.